Rounds
WSU to be part of state Life Sciences Corridor Life sciences research at Wayne State University will be bolstered following the signing of a bill by Governor John Engler July 19 to invest $1 billion over 20 years to develop new technologies in the life sciences. The Life Sciences Corridor will consist of four Michigan research institutions: WSU, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and the Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids, MI. “The development of important life-saving technology will make Michigan a major focus in the biotechnology industry,” said Governor Engler. The “State Smart Report” named the life sciences as one of three industries targeted for high technology development in Michigan. The legislation provides Michigan with an
investment of $50 million for fiscal year 2000. The state contributions
for the effort come from the tobacco settlement. Earlier screening offered for Down syndrome The department of obstetrics and gynecology at
Wayne State University and The Detroit Medical Center are using a
screening test known as FIRST (First trimester Integrated Risk Screening
for Trisomy), which can detect Down Syndrome and trisomy 18--a common
chromosome abnormality--in the third month of pregnancy. The screening uses maternal age, maternal blood protein markers and nuchal thickness (the excess skin at the back of the fetus’s neck) to detect chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus. These markers, which are measured through blood tests and a special ultrasound, allow results to be reported much earlier than ever before, and with accuracy rates of up to 80 percent. Drs. Mark Evans, Anthony Johnson, and Marjorie Treadwell are leading this study, which is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. WSU/Hutzel Hospital is the only site in Michigan to be selected for participation. Karmanos among top bone marrow transplant programs The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute has been named one of the top three bone marrow transplant centers in the country, according to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). Institutions were rated based on transplant survival rates. The other two centers identified with above-average survival rates were the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, and Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. In Michigan, the Karmanos Cancer Institute is the largest and most cost-effective provider of bone marrow transplants, according the NMDP. Since joining the NMDP in 1988, Karmanos has performed more than 1,600 bone marrow or stem cell transplants. Dr. Mitchell pursues cancer vaccines
Malcolm Mitchell, MD, has joined WSU and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute as an immunologist and medical oncologist whose research focuses on cancer vaccines. He will lead the immunotherapy program at Karmanos and serve as professor in internal medicine and immunology/microbiology at WSU. Dr. Mitchell’s interests include the development of new immunological treatments for breast cancer, melanoma and other cancers. He most recently served as director of the Center for Biological Therapy and Melanoma Research and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, CA. He was formerly on the medical school faculty at Yale and the University of Southern California.
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